Rotary shaft seals have been utilized in machinery, the automobile industry, as well as other industries. Three major problems associated with seals designed to have substantial contact areas between the shaft and the lip of the seal are “bell mouth,” the shaft followability at low temperatures, and oil carbonization in the pumping grooves due to local temperature rise causing increased torque. “Bell mouth” is a phenomenon associated with the lift of the edge of the lip from the shaft. The problem is extenuated for highly incompressible materials, like rubber and PTFE. The ability of the seal to follow the shaft when the shaft either wobbles or is misaligned is also important to a seal design.
The present invention is designed to reduce seal torque, the propensity for “bell mouthing” and also provides for improved shaft followability at low temperatures. The dynamic seal includes an annular mounting portion which is capable of being mounted to a casing which surrounds a rotary shaft. The seal includes an axially extending portion extending from the radially inner end of the mounting portion, with a radially extending portion extending inwardly from an end of the axially extending portion. A generally conically shaped seal portion extends from an end of the radially extending portion with the seal portion including a radially inner face provided with a plurality of grooves or ribs and a radially outer face having a special bead defining a region of increased thickness. The bead acts as an integral spring to control the gap between the essentially conical portion of the seal and the shaft as well as a means for counteracting the “bell mouthing” propensity of the seal portion. The bead can have different shapes including a triangular-cross section or a rounded bead, as well as other configurations which are deemed to be appropriate. The bead is positioned slightly away from the edge of the lip to provide a sufficient lip “lay-down” to properly engage the hydrodynamic pumping features, which would normally be located on the lip contact are between the edge of the seal and the bead. The flexibility of the axially extending portion of the seal provides an improvement in the shaft followability due to the generally cylindrical shape of the axially extending portion having lower bending stiffness. Therefore, if the material of the seal does not have sufficient intrinsic elasticity, making the axially extending portion of the seal in a generally cylindrical shape improves the overall shaft followability. The length and the wall thickness of the cylindrical portion allow one to control the degree of flexibility to match the application requirements.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.